Wednesday, 21 September 1994
Tallahassee, Florida

Every Wednesday it was a standard routine for Sir Thomas to wake up by 6 am, drop his daughter Princess Breanna off at school and drive over to the University. It was a bit rough as a single parent juggling work, Graduate school, and work at the National Park Service. Sometimes he would have to drive out to Sir Chris’ house to awake him as they would vend the Wednesday Markets at Florida State University in the Union. They often set up by the Hare Krishna’s who would always have “by donation” Vegan Indian Cuisine. It was a highlight of Sir Thomas’ day. It was the best Indian cuisine (and Vegan fare) that he’s ever had. Sir Thomas sold a plethora of folk culture gifts, incense, oils, brews, candles, potpourri, and other creations he hand made. He also had consignments from members of the Tree Leaves’ Folk Fellowship, as well as some, re-sell retail Pagan supplies like books, tarot cards, and ritual tools. Quite often members of the Folk Fellowship or students from his “Intro to Neo-Paganism” class would come by and visit, stock up, or just peruse the market. It was this day that a young couple came by the booth – Jason and Hena, who were excited about the booth offerings. They were also intrigued by the upcoming class Sir Thomas was teaching on Fairies and wanted to sign up. There was an instant connection between Sir Thomas and Lady Hena, but nothing except friendship would ever come of it Sir Thomas thought as she was partnered with someone she adored. It was a solid connection. She also appeared to young for him, but he was excited about the prospects of friendship. She struck something in Sir Thomas, almost being a muse for him. It was inspiring.

The three of them pursued a friendship that would last quite a few years as they became part of the Tree Leaves’ Folk Fellowship. Sir Thomas had to go back to graduate class while Chris hung out with them … off to Anthropology of Religion with Dr. Bruce Grindal and put some hours into the lab that was a dual project between Florida State University’ Anthropology Department and the National Park Service Southeastern Archaeological Center. He spent a few hours analyzing artifacts then came back out to help close down the tables with Chris. Lady Hena and Sir Jason had already left for the day. Sir Thomas and Sir Chris wheelbarrowed the goods back to his hatchback parked at his old Catholic Church – St Thomas Moore. Off they went home, Sir Thomas dropped off Sir Chris, and went to pick up his daughter from her after-school program. Luckily they lived down the street from the school so it wasn’t much of a commute, unlike his house in the country which was their weekend house.

Sir Thomas and Princess Breanna read books, played with her toys, and popped a cartoon into the VCR to watch before bed. They had pad thai for dinner with white rice, grape drinks, and apple slices. It was a good evening. After the Princess fell asleep, Sir Thomas worked on graduate school homework and his dissertation on the Ethnography of Wicca in the Southeastern United States – compiling interviews, questionnaires, and research data. He worked until about 2 am, then slept to rinse and repeat for a full day of school again.